According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI report released on December 12th, Annual Inflation was down to 3.1% in November. (but since we calculate it to two digits, it was actually down to 3.14%.) Monthly inflation was 0.44% in August, 0.25% in September, -0.04% in October, and -0.20% in November, so it certainly looks like inflation is falling. But inflation is almost always low to negative in the fourth quarter of the year, so it could simply be an illusion.  The stock market was expecting another significant drop like last month, so they were mildly disappointed, but the market was able to eke out a point or two of gains. We had been projecting a flat to slight rise for … [Read more...]